Those who are involved in the construction and/or repair of articles made particularly from wood have long been familiar with the existence of mitre boxes. Basically, mitre boxes comprise a means which is operable for purposes of cutting the ends of a pair of strips of material at equal angles so as to enable the cut ends to be jointed in a mitre joint. More specifically, a mitre box comprises normally a portable device which includes generally speaking a base, guide means for the instrument by which the cutting is accomplished, and means for establishing the angle at which the ends of the pieces of material are cut.
As is readily apparent from a reference to the prior art, there have been provided heretofore a variety of devices which have been designed to be operable in the manner of a mitre box. One method of classifying the various forms of such devices is by complexity of their structure and/or by their relative cost to manufacture. For example, probably one of the simplese forms of devices which has been employed prevously for cutting the ends of two pieces of material at equal angles is the type which consists solely of support means for the pieces of material and guide means for the cutting instrument. However, such a device is commonly characterized by the fact that there is only one angle at which the ends of the pieces of material can be cut. More specifically, this form of device embodies no means whereby the angle of cut can be varied. For some application, such a device may be perfectly adequate. Namely, its simplicity insofar as concerns the method of use thereof as well as the degree of accuracy obtainable therewith makes such a device suitable for use by the average amateur do-it-yourself homeowner. Moreover, such a device is generally advantageously characterized by the fact that the cost of purchase thereof is relatively minimal.
The degree of accuracy obtainable with the aforedescribed form of mitre box as well as the lack of flexibility thereof are commonly found to render such a mitre box unsuitable for use by a workman such as a carpenter or other similarly skilled individual who earns his livelihood working with wood. To meet the needs of this type of individual, it has been necessary to provide a more complex form of mitre box. Namely, it has been necessary to provide a mitre box which embodies means operable for purposes of enabling the angle at which the ends of pieces of material are cut to be varied. Such devices have been known heretofore as evidenced by reference to the prior art. One area however, in which prior art forms of this type of mitre box have often suffered is in the relative precision with which the angle of cut is established. More specifically, it has often been found that a rather difficult and/or time consuming procedure must be followed in order to ensure that the components of the mitre box are properly oriented relative to each other so that the angle at which the ends of the pieces of material are cut is acutally the angle at which it is desired taht they be cut. In addition, insofar as concerns the cost thereof, this form of mitre box is commonly found to be relatively more expensive than the form described in the preceding paragraph by virtue of the embodiment therein of means operable for varying the angle of cut.
Apart from the above described mitre boxes which have been available in the prior art heretofore, there also exists a number of other different forms of mitre boxes which are characterized in that they embody relatively complex forms of structure. Mitre boxes of the latter type have commonly been found employed in woodworking companies and/or other types of facilities wherein the construction and/or repair of articles made from wood takes place. One advantage possessed by the latter type of mitre box resides in the fact that through the use thereof one is capable of establishing the angle of cut with a high degree of precision. On the other hand, disadvantages of this type of mitre box are that by virtue of its complex structure and relatively high cost, the use thereof is generally restricted to woodworking companies, etc. which are capable of providing a high rate of utilization thereof as well as are capable of justifying the expense represented thereby.
Thus, although a variety of different types of mitre boxes have been developed previously, there nevertheless has existed a need to provide a mitre box which embodies means operable to provide a simple and more effective method of establishing with high precision the angle of cut than that obtainable through the use of the aforedescribed first two types of mitre boxes, and which is less complex in structure and significantly less costly than the mitre box commonly utilized by woodworking companies.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved mitre box operable for cutting the ends of pieces of material at equal angles.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a mtire box which embodies improved indexing means.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such a mitre box embodying improved indexing means capable to providing accurate indexing with a high degree of precision.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide such a mitre box with improved indexing means whereby the latter means is readily adjustable in a simple and efficient manner.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such a mitre box with improved indexing means which has a relatively simple structure and which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide such a mitre box with improved indexing means which is capable of being provided with a wedge which is operable to provide a 30.degree. angle.